"Spring has come for the development of winter sports in China."
On the evening of the 20th, Zhao Yinggang, Vice Chairman of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Sustainability Advisory Committee, said in Nanjing that preparations for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing are "heating up" China’s ice and snow sports industry.
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On the 20th, the Asia-Pacific Outdoor Industry Exhibition opened in Nanjing, featuring a wide array of winter sports equipment and activities. Zhao made the above remarks while attending the “2019 Asia-Pacific Sports Industry Summit.”
On July 31, 2015, Beijing, together with Zhangjiakou, successfully won the bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
In Zhao Yinggang’s view, China has a tradition of engaging in ice and snow sports, but is not a traditional winter sports country. The country’s ice and snow sports industry started late, has low barriers to entry, and holds huge potential. With the Winter Olympics entering the “Beijing cycle,” the industry is experiencing a window of rapid growth.
Zhao cited the explosive growth in the number of skating and skiing venues as an example. He said that recent years have seen the fastest development of skating and ski resorts in China, with numbers reaching record highs—334 skating rinks and 738 ski resorts. These venues have shifted from being solely winter-focused to year-round operations, and from single-format businesses to diversified, “all-around thriving” models.
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The development of mass skiing in China clearly reflects the path of ice and snow sports “from north to south” and “expanding westward and eastward.” Zhao observed that while the northeast region has strong capabilities and foundations in winter sports, the southern ice and snow sports industry is also growing rapidly, with an explosive increase in participants. Currently, as the pace of Winter Olympics preparations accelerates, the integration and personnel exchanges between northern and southern China’s ice and snow sports industries have entered a golden period.
Last year, China’s General Administration of Sport issued the “Implementation Outline for Participation in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics” and the “Implementation Outline for Engaging 300 Million People in Ice and Snow Sports (2018–2022).” According to the plan, by 2022, China aims to compete in all events at the Beijing Winter Olympics, popularize mass participation in ice and snow sports, and engage 300 million people in such activities.
Building ice and snow sports corridors, bringing ice and snow to schools, parks, and commercial districts… In Zhao Yinggang’s summary, mass skiing activities across the country are thriving. There is strong momentum in social support for building ice and snow venues, operating events, providing gear and apparel, and holding sports expos. “The vision of '300 million people participating in ice and snow sports' is gradually becoming a reality.”
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